2026 Cryptocurrency Financing Analysis: What Has Happened in the Gaming and DePIN Sectors?

From January 1 to May 6, 2026, the crypto industry completed a total of 305 funding rounds, amounting to $8.65 billion. This figure alone is impressive enough. But beneath the surface, the data structure isn’t as optimistic as it appears: the $4.57 billion “surge” in March mainly came from two large mergers and acquisitions—BVNK’s $1.8 billion and Kalshi’s $1 billion. Excluding these two, the actual funding pace is about $1 billion per month, even weaker than the late 2025 level. Meanwhile, funding in gaming and DePIN tracks has almost disappeared, while payments and consumer sectors absorbed 72% of the funds. What are the real changes behind the surface of these funding figures?

What structural changes are hidden behind the $8.65 billion total funding?

The total funding data in the crypto industry shows a significant structural imbalance. In terms of timing, about 53% of the funds were concentrated in a single month—March—yet this does not signal a funding rebound—most of the $4.57 billion in March came from two M&A deals. Removing the M&A factors, the monthly funding scale is closer to the true venture capital enthusiasm. By sector, $3.74 billion (56 deals) was in payments, and $2.48 billion (35 deals) in consumer, together accounting for 72% of the annual funding. The DeFi sector completed 47 deals (the most in transaction count) but only absorbed $1.06 billion. This distribution pattern contrasts sharply with 2022: that year, gaming accounted for 63% of Web3 venture funding, but by 2025, it had fallen to single digits.

Why did funding in gaming and DePIN tracks suddenly “disappear”?

The contraction in gaming is not a short-term fluctuation but the result of long-term failure to validate the business model. According to a report by crypto market maker Caladan, about 93% of Web3 gaming projects are actually dead, GameFi token prices have fallen about 95% from their 2022 peak, and gaming studio funding has shrunk 93% from its 2022 high. The root cause is the lack of product-market fit. Before playable games launch, project teams sell tokens and NFTs early to raise funds, leading to speculative demand exceeding actual gaming needs. When new user growth slows, the token economy chain breaks down. Axie Infinity’s daily active users plummeted from about 2.8 million at peak to around 99k, and Hamster Kombat lost 96% of its users in six months. The DePIN track faces a similar validation dilemma—high infrastructure deployment costs, long network effect build cycles, and during valuation corrections, capital prefers to avoid such long-cycle tracks.

How has the merger and acquisition logic in the crypto industry shifted?

In the first four months of 2026, 2.8M&A deals were completed, accounting for 23% of known stage transactions, nearly equal to 57 seed-stage funding rounds (27%). This data reveals a structural shift in the primary crypto market: capital is moving from early-stage dispersed bets to strategic consolidation of mature companies. In the broader payments landscape, from 2025 to 2026, M&A involving crypto and payment infrastructure has reached $8.05 billion, including Capital One’s $5.15 billion acquisition of Brex, Mastercard’s $1.8 billion purchase of BVNK, and Stripe’s $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge. The fact that M&A deals have caught up with seed rounds indicates a key insight: capital is increasingly choosing to “buy” proven business models and user bases of leading companies rather than investing in untested early ideas—becoming the mainstream strategy.

Why is capital flowing into the payments and consumer sectors?

Payments and consumer sectors absorbed 72% of funding, driven mainly by a clear overarching trend: the demand for foundational payment infrastructure driven by the AI economy is exploding. In the first three months of 2026, Google announced Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), Coinbase launched Agentic Wallets, Mastercard announced the acquisition of BVNK, and Stripe and Paradigm incubated the Tempo chain mainnet. Over the past nine months, AI Agents have completed 99k payments totaling $43 million, with 98.6% settled in USDC, averaging $0.31 per transaction. This trend points to a larger structural opportunity: as machine-to-machine transaction costs approach zero, the traditional fee model relying on 2-3% transaction fees will face systemic challenges. Capital flowing into payments and consumer sectors is essentially positioning for a future where AI Agents become independent economic entities. Leading payment giants are no longer designing payment tools for humans but are building new financial rails for AI agents.

How are primary markets and investment strategies diverging?

The crypto primary market is undergoing profound reshuffling. The divide between top-tier and mid-tier VCs is intensifying: the former consolidates advantages through brand effect and capital strength, while the latter shrinks due to poor exit channels. Overall funding has rebounded, but the number of active venture capital firms has sharply declined from peaks before 2022, with capital becoming more cautiously concentrated among leading players. At the institutional level, the most active funds in 2026 have shifted significantly: Coinbase Ventures led with 18 deals, Tether with 13 as a new lead investor, and Animoca Brands and GSR each with 11. In contrast, a16z only completed 7 deals, a sharp drop from around 200 deals between 2021 and 2026. Focus areas for new funds include stablecoins, payments, real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, on-chain financial infrastructure, and the intersection of AI and Agent economies.

What will be the future direction of crypto funding?

Based on current trends, several trajectories are worth monitoring. The market generally expects 2026-2027 to be the strongest investment years since 2018, driven by reduced competition, rationalized valuations, and improved regulatory environments. Future capital is likely to focus on sectors with verifiable revenue models, such as stablecoin infrastructure, crypto payment networks, RWA tokenization, and financial infrastructure. The integration of AI and crypto will become a mid-term mainline, with AI Agent payment infrastructure moving from proof of concept to infrastructure race stages. The trend of mergers and acquisitions also warrants attention—given that 48 M&A deals nearly match seed rounds, more mature corporate consolidations may occur in the second half of 2026. For startups, storytelling is giving way to product-market fit and sustainable growth models.

Summary

The crypto funding data for the first four months of 2026 reveals a key signal: the primary crypto market is shifting from “idea hunting” to “industry consolidation.” The total of $8.65 billion was inflated by two large M&A deals; excluding these, the actual funding pace is steady. Funding in gaming and DePIN tracks is nearly exhausted, not due to short-term volatility but because of long-term failure to validate product-market fit. The M&A trend, matching seed rounds, indicates that capital is increasingly favoring acquisitions of mature leaders over dispersed early-stage bets. Large capital inflows into payments and consumer sectors are driven by the long-term demand for new payment infrastructure in the AI economy. The divide between top-tier and mid-tier VCs, the reshuffling of investment rankings, and market focus on stablecoins, RWA, and on-chain financial infrastructure collectively sketch a picture of the crypto primary market moving toward a more rational and integrated next phase.

FAQ

Q1: What is the true trend of crypto funding in the first four months of 2026?

From January 1 to May 6, 2026, the crypto industry completed 305 funding rounds totaling $8.65 billion. However, the $4.57 billion surge in March was mainly driven by two M&A deals—BVNK ($1.8 billion) and Kalshi ($1 billion). Excluding these, the monthly funding scale is about $1 billion, not significantly surpassing late 2025 levels. Overall, the funds are increasingly concentrated in payments and consumer sectors, while funding in gaming and DePIN tracks has sharply declined.

Q2: Why has funding in gaming and DePIN tracks shrunk significantly?

The gaming sector faces the problem that about 93% of Web3 gaming projects are effectively inactive, with token prices dropping sharply and funding shrinking from 2022 highs. The fundamental reason is that many projects sell tokens and NFTs early before the game is launched, leading to speculative demand far exceeding actual gaming needs. When new user growth slows, the token economy chain breaks. The DePIN sector faces similar challenges—high infrastructure deployment costs, slow network effect development, and during valuation corrections, venture capital is more cautious, especially for long-cycle tracks.

Q3: What is the future funding direction of the primary crypto market?

Market expectations suggest 2026-2027 could be the strongest investment years since 2018, driven by reduced competition, rational valuations, and better regulation. Capital will likely focus on sectors with proven revenue models, such as stablecoin infrastructure, crypto payment networks, RWA tokenization, and on-chain financial infrastructure. The integration of AI and crypto, especially AI Agent payment infrastructure, is also becoming a key focus in the primary market.